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Why the French are Smarter than us Americans

Yeah, we have to have a stimulus plan. And one will pass this week. The latest iteration is the one crafted by a moderate Republican (Susan Collins of Maine) and a moderate Democrat (Ben Nelson of Nebraska). And as a militant moderate myself, I have to commend them for at least making some adjustments to the bottomless barrel of pork written by the Democrats in the House and the equally irresponsible “just say no” or “just say more tax cuts” approach by the Republicans.

In this morning’s Washington Post Senator Arlen Specter, one of the three Republicans likely to vote for this latest version, said that the $780 Billion Dollar package would create or save 4 million jobs. (As an aside “create or save” used by both Specter and President Obama is bullshit…why? It means you have already defined success for yourself. If not a single new job is created you can still say, “Yeah, but I saved 4 million jobs” and it’s impossible to disprove that.)But bullshit aside, make the calculation. $780 Billion divided by 4 million jobs equals $195,000 per job.

Now France has as big a case of economic chaos as we do. Their economy shrunk last year the most since World War II and their unemployment is expected to reach nearly 11%.

So, of course, President Sarkozy had to introduce his own economic stimulus plan. But here’s a big piece of his approach – committing 100 million extra Euros per year ($130 million) for the restoration of historic monuments in France for the next 4 years. So about 1.5% of his stimulus package is going toward heritage conservation. By the way Sarkozy isn’t the only one. In March there is going to be a hearing in Brussels of the European Union on using heritage conservation as a counter-cyclical economic development strategy.

So what if we took this approach as part of our stimulus plan? Of course in the US we are much more likely to use tax incentives to attract private investment rather than direct public funding. And we’ve done this effectively with the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit.

So let’s double the tax credit for the next 4 years (from 20% to 40%) and let’s assume that costs the US taxpayers the annual equivalent of $130 million per year. What would that mean? Nearly 20,000 jobs per year for each of the next 4 years. (Also, by the way, when economists and politicians say “job” they mean one full time job for one year. So if a stimulus package creates one job in the highway building business, for example, that lasts for the next four years, that will be counted as 4 jobs).

The cost to the US taxpayer of historic preservation as stimulus? $6875 dollars per job…for the same amount of money that is required to create 1 job in the rest of the stimulus package, 28 jobs would be created. And this would represent less than 1/10 of 1% of the stimulus spending, not France’s 1.5%.

Furthermore, this is Sustainable Economic Development! A tax credit to encourage Americans to buy even more cars isn’t.

France might not produce the best armies, but they are better at wine, better at cheese, and sure as hell better at figuring out a stimulus plan than we are.

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From the article, "“So where is real economic growth going to come from? Unfortunately, not from our biggest businesses…The lack of new business startups is at the very core of our decades-long decline in dynamism.” And where do new business start-ups, start up? A disproportionate share in historic districts and on Main Street. Do what you can to help small and start-up businesses. It is they, not giant corporations, who are desperately needed for our economy. ... See more

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This is the way to do it! This video has been around for a few months but I had not seen it before. We did a study of the catalytic impact of the Louisiana historic tax credit program. Based on the data, the interviews and the case studies we wrote about, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development created this great video. That is how to make the most of research...make sure people hear about it in multiple venues. What a great and innovative client to have! ... See more

Great opportunity open to current graduate or PHD students or recent graduates (within one year) in Public Policy, Historic Preservation, History, Law, Planning, Architecture or related program. Deadline is this Friday, Feb 8th. ... See more

Apply to be a Preservation Advocacy Scholar today!

Our advocacy scholars program recognizes the next generation of preservation advocates, by inviting them to participate in Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. Selected scholars will have the opportunity to participate in policy discussions and briefings, join congressional visits, and attend the PA congressional reception. Applications due Feb. 8th. Apply today! #preservation#advocacyhttp://preservationaction.org/advocacyweek/#scholars ... See more

Wow, David Brown is leaving the National Trust after 22 years. He's been a great friend to me and to PlaceEconomics and has been Executive Vice President during most challenging times. Thank you, David, for your commitment to preservation and for all the opportunities you have given me and my colleagues. Best wishes for the future. ... See more

From the sister company of PlaceEconomics, Heritage Strategies International. Best wishes from all of us for a successful and peaceful 2019.

Fifteen years ago, on January 1, 2004, Heritage Strategies International (HSI) was formed to be the non-US counterpart to PlaceEconomics. In that decade and a half we've had the opportunity to work in more than 50 countries. Thank you to our clients and friends who have allowed us to see the world and hopefully make minor contributions to saving and using the heritage resources around the globe. We look forward to new assignments, including the 150 or so countries we haven't gotten to yet. Best wishes for a successful and heritage-filled 2019. ... See more